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My Terrific Afternoon Tea Party

Last Friday I had an afternoon tea party! My aunt and I served many delicious things and made a lot of preparations for the tea party for three days leading up to the party.

The tea party was a huge success; it was elegant and even though ladylike, very, very fun.

In the past couple days I’ve also been researching English afternoon tea parties because I wanted to find out more about the tradition. I was interested in learning where tea parties started, who started tea parties, and what most people do at tea parties. I found out these things, and now I want to share what I learned about tea parties with you.

The first person to start English tea parties was named Anna who was the 7th Duchess of Bedford in the early 19th century.

Afternoon tea was initially developed as a private social event for ladies who climbed the echelons of society.

It was only when Queen Victoria engaged in the afternoon tea ritual that it became a formal occasion on a larger scale, known as “tea receptions”.

Some of the things that people do at afternoon English tea parties are, drink tea (obviously) and chat, sharing what is new in your life.

A “cream tea” is usually just tea served with scones, jam, and clotted cream. A traditional afternoon tea starts with finger-sized sandwiches, followed by scones with butter, jam and/or clotted cream, and then an assortment of cakes or pastries; of course, lots of tea is served the entire time. Low tea is an afternoon tea that is served while people are sitting in low armchairs, and high tea is served while people are standing at high tables.

Here is the menu that we served at our tea party (click on the link to view):

So there you have it; some of the many facts about tea parties! I hope that one day you get the chance to have your own tea party. Also, thank you for reading and I also hope that you share these facts about tea parties with others.

Pictured above is a “cream tea”, which is just tea served with scones, jam, and clotted cream.

Please note that the facts on tea parties in this post came from the following sources:

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4 thoughts on “My Terrific Afternoon Tea Party”

Rose, when I read this, all I could think of was the beautiful English Tea we went to at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort a couple years ago. Please keep on researching these awesome subjects! I’m learning so much! All my love forever, G

Rosie, I never knew why it was called high tea. Very interesting! And I love the look of those scones with clotted cream. Hope you had a chance to dig in when you were done with your story. Enjoy your next tea! Love you. Aunt Peg